2013 Mars Revealed Training Activities’
Alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards
Is It Science?
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Scientific values function as criteria in distinguishing between science and
non-science.
 Scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include:
logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism,
replicability of results, and honest and ethical reporting of findings.
Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
 Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections
between evidence and explanations.
 Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence.
 Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence
supporting a single explanation.
Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of
New Evidence
 Scientific explanations are subject to revision and improvement in light of
new evidence.
 Most scientific knowledge is quite durable but is, in principle, subject to
change based on new evidence and/or reinterpretation of existing
evidence.
Nature of Science: Science is a Way of Knowing
 Science distinguishes itself from other ways of knowing through use of
empirical standards, logical arguments, and skeptical review.
 Science knowledge has a history that includes the refinement of, and
changes to, theories, ideas, and beliefs over time.
Nature of Science: Science Is a Human Endeavor
 Scientific knowledge is a result of human endeavor, imagination, and
creativity.
Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and
Material World
 Science limits its explanations to systems that lend themselves to
observation and empirical evidence.

Not all questions can be answered by science.
Blue Marble Matches
ESS2-2. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s
features.
4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock
layers to support an explanation for changes in a landscape over time.
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience
processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.
 Analyze and interpret data to determine similarities and differences in
findings.

Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs,
pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate
relationships.
Mars Mystery Rocks
HS-ESS1-6. Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth
materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of
Earth’s formation and early history.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS4.C: Information Technologies and
Instrumentation
 Multiple technologies based on the understanding of waves and their
interactions with matter are part of everyday experiences in the modern
world (e.g., medical imaging, communications, scanners) and in scientific
research. They are essential tools for producing, transmitting, and
capturing signals and for storing and interpreting the information contained
in them.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation
 When light shines on an object, it is reflected, absorbed, or transmitted
through the object, depending on the object’s material and the frequency
(color) of the light.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS4.B Electromagnetic Radiation
 Atoms of each element emit and absorb characteristic frequencies of light.
These characteristics allow identification of the presence of an element,
even in microscopic quantities.
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make
measurements and observations.
Science and Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out
Investigations
 Collect data to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence to answer
scientific questions or test design solutions under a range of conditions.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs,
pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate
relationships.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to
discuss similarities and differences in their findings.
 Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample
selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.
Science and Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational
Thinking
 Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (e.g., ratio, rate, percent,
basic operations, simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions
and problems.
Cratering Boxes
4-PS3-3. Ask questions and predict outcomes about the changes in energy that
occur when objects collide.
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience
processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
Disciplinary Core Ideas ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
 Some events happen very quickly; others occur very slowly, over a time
period much longer than one can observe.
Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS3.A: Definitions of Energy
 Motion energy is properly called kinetic energy; it is proportional to the
mass of the moving object and grows with the square of its speed.
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make
measurements and observations.
Science and Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
 Develop and/or use models to describe and/or predict phenomena.
 Evaluate limitations of a model for a proposed object or tool.
Online Impact Cratering Laboratory
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make
measurements and observations.
 Scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include:
logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism,
replicability of results, and honest and ethical reporting of findings.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs,
pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate
relationships.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to
discuss similarities and differences in their findings.
 Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample
selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.
Science and Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational
Thinking
 Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (e.g., ratio, rate, percent,
basic operations, simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions
and problems.
Strange New Planet
Science and Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining
Problems
 Ask questions that arise from examining models or a theory, to clarify
and/or seek additional information and relationships
Science and Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out
Investigations
 Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the
basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design
solution.
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
 Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence
obtained from sources (including the students’ own experiments) and the
assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate
today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
History of Mars Exploration
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 New technologies advance scientific knowledge.

Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make
measurements and observations.
Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
 Science includes the process of coordinating patterns of evidence with
current theory.
 Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence
supporting a single explanation.
Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of
New Evidence
 Science findings are frequently revised and/or reinterpreted based on new
evidence.
Nature of Science: Science is a Human Endeavor
 Technological advances have influenced the progress of science and
science has influenced advances in technology.
 Science and engineering are influenced by society and society is
influenced by science and engineering.
Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and
Material World
 Scientific knowledge is constrained by human capacity, technology, and
materials.
 Many decisions are not made using science alone, but rely on social and
cultural contexts to resolve issues.
Science and Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining
Problems
 Ask questions that arise from careful observation of phenomena, models,
or unexpected results, to clarify and/or seek additional information.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to
discuss similarities and differences in their findings.
 Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample
selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
 Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or
support an explanation or design a solution to a problem.
Science and Engineering Practices: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
 Construct, use, and/or present an oral and written argument supported by
empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support or refute an
explanation or a model for a phenomenon or a solution to a problem.
Lava Layering
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience
processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
Disciplinary Core Ideas ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
 The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to
organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record
provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale.
Science and Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
 Develop and/or use models to describe and/or predict phenomena.
Science and Engineering Practices: Planning and Carrying Out
Investigations
 Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the
basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design
solution.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to
discuss similarities and differences in their findings.
 Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample
selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
 Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative
relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s)
phenomena.
Stream Tables
MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience
processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
Disciplinary Core Ideas ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface
Processes
 Water’s movements—both on the land and underground—cause
weathering and erosion, which change the land’s surface features and
create underground formations.
Science and Engineering Practices: Developing and Using Models
 Develop and/or use models to describe and/or predict phenomena.
Mars Meteorology
HS-ESS3-5. Analyze data using computational models in order to make valid and
reliable scientific claims.
Disciplinary Core Ideas ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
 The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic
radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and
redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this
energy’s re-radiation into space.
Nature of Science: Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Science investigations use a variety of methods and tools to make
measurements and observations.
 Scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include:
logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism,
replicability of results, and honest and ethical reporting of findings.
Nature of Science: Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
 Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections
between evidence and explanations.
 Science knowledge is based on empirical evidence.
 Science arguments are strengthened by multiple lines of evidence
supporting a single explanation.
Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and
Material World
 Science limits its explanations to systems that lend themselves to
observation and empirical evidence.
 Not all questions can be answered by science.
Science and Engineering Practices: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.
 Represent data in tables and/or various graphical displays (bar graphs,
pictographs and/or pie charts) to reveal patterns that indicate
relationships.
 Compare and contrast data collected by different groups in order to
discuss similarities and differences in their findings.
 Consider limitations of data analysis (e.g., measurement error, sample
selection) when analyzing and interpreting data.
Science and Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational
Thinking
 Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (e.g., ratio, rate, percent,
basic operations, simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions
and problems.
Crater Comparisons
Disciplinary Core Idea
 ESS1C. History of Planet Earth
Science and Engineering Practices
 Practice 1: Asking Questions and Defining Problems
 Practice 3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
 Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
 Practice 5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
 Practice 6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
 Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
 Practice 8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Cross Cutting Concepts
 1. Patterns
 2. Cause and Effect
 3. Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
 6. Structure and Function
 7. Stability and Change
Nature of Science
 Scientific Investigations Use a Variety of Methods
 Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
 Scientific Knowledge is Open to Revision in Light of New Evidence
 Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural
Phenomena
 Science is a Way of Knowing
 Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural
System
 Science is a Human Endeavor
 Science Addresses Questions about the Natural and Material World
Marsbound!
Science and Engineering Practices: Asking Questions and Defining
Problems
 Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of
an object, tool, process or system and includes multiple criteria and
constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible
solutions.
Science and Engineering Practices: Using Mathematics and Computational
Thinking
 Apply mathematical concepts and/or processes (e.g., ratio, rate, percent,
basic operations, simple algebra) to scientific and engineering questions
and problems.
Science and Engineering Practices: Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
 Undertake a design project, engaging in the design cycle, to construct
and/or implement a solution that meets specific design criteria and
constraints.
Nature of Science: Science Addresses Questions About the Natural and
Material World
 Scientific knowledge is constrained by human capacity, technology, and
materials.
 Many decisions are not made using science alone, but rely on social and
cultural contexts to resolve issues.